The Sun. — London, England, 1838-12-14 00:00:00

LONDON : FRIDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 14, 1938. TORCH-LIGHT _MEETINGS. The following is the Proclamation against torch light meetings, which will appear in the Gazette this evening : HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE TO.MOrZROW. ... ivi minntes after 0 j Evening 53 miuutes after 0 MR. PLUMER WARD'S NEW WORK. Now ready, and to be had at all the Libraries, in 3 ♦ols. post Bvo., PICTURES OF THE WORLD, AT HOME AND ABROAD. By the Author of •' Tremaine," " De `'ere," " Human Life," tree. Henry Colburn, Publisher, 13, Great Marlborough -street. HINTS TO THE PEOPLE HOW TO DEAL WITH LORD MELBOURNE'S GOVERN- MENT!!! An Original Letter by " BRUTUS," In the WEEKLY TRUE SUN of SUNDAY Next. An Edition on SATURDAY. Orders received by all Newsmen in Town and Country. Office, 366, Strand. 50, Conduit-street, Hanover-square. NEW WORK by the AUTHOR of " RANDOM RECOL LECTIONS," TRAVELS IN TOWN. In 2 vols. post Bvo. By the Author of " Random Recollections," " The Great Metropolis," " Sketches in London," &c. &c. S NOW READY, and may be had of all BOOKSELLERS. PRINCIPAL SUBJECTS. The Streets The Newsmen The Park The Post Office Tattersall's and the Turf Booksel/ing—Magazine Day Downing-street Paternoster-row The British Museum Religious Denominations. Saunders and Otley, Conduit-street, Hanover-square. The publication of Mx SUN NEWSPAPER commenced this day at 10 minutes past Three o' Clock C•kepit ley - ; PA; WITH WHICH THE TRUE SUN "IS NOW INCORPORATED. BY THE QUEEN-A PROCLAMATION. VICTORIA R.—Whereas great numbers of evil-disposed and disorderly persons have lately, in some parts of Great Britain, assembled themselves together after Sunset, by torch-light, in large bodies and in a tumultuous manner, with banners, flags, and other ensigns, and have continued so assembled until a late hour of the night, and during the time they were so as sembled have, by loud shouts and noises, and by the discharge of fire-arms, and the display of weapons of offence, greatly earned the inhabitants of the neighbourhood of such assem blies, and endangered the public peace : We, therefore, being sensible of the mischievous consequences to be apprehended from such illegal meetings, and of the dangerous tendency hereof, not on;v to the peace of Our Kingdom, but to the lives and properties of our subjects, do hereby warn and com mand all persons to desist from such assemblies at their peril ; and do further command all Justices of Peace, Sheriffs, Con stables, and other Peace Officers to use their utmost endeavours to prevent all such illegal assemblies, and to bring the offenders to justice. _ _ _ Given at Our Court at Windsor, this twelfth day of De cember, in the year eighteen hundred and thirty-eight, and in the seeond year of Our Reign. GOD SAVE THE QUEEN. We are glad to perceive that the Manchester people continue their exertions to procure the repeal of the Corn-laws, Yesterday the Chamber of Commerce was to meet, and would no doubt agree to a strong petition against the odious badge of slavery, which the landlords hare fixed on the people. To them we pay tribute in a tax on our bread. We have before us also an excellent a ddress of the Manchester Anti- Corn-law Association, in which the consequences of the Devil's laws in starving the people, stopping trade, promoting foreign wars and intestine commo tion,—in deteriorating the condition of the labourer, increasing crime, and making men thoroughly irre ligious, by brin g ing, through the wickedness o f our rulers, the goo dness of GOD into question—are well set forth and explained. We have not, unfortunately, room for the whole of the address, but we give, as a specimen of the fair and honest spirit by which the manufacturers are animated, to the shame of the unfair and dishonest landowners, the following paragraph : Nor do we seek for privileges or immunities at the expense of other portions of the community. All that we ask is, that the artisan may be emancipated from the shackles which con fine within arbitrary and unnatural limits the market of his labour, and that his employer may enjoy the right of enlarg ing, with the increasing wealth and population of the globe, the field of profitable employment for his capital. Whilst de manding the total repeal of a law which professes to protect the agriculturist, we are bound in fairness to call for the re moval of all duties upon the manufactures of foreign countries imposed for the purpose of affording protection to ourselves. We desire neither to be benefited at the cost of the consumers of cottons, silks, or woollens, nor injured for the benefit of the proprietors of corn-fields and pastures. We do not seek to depend for a languid and slothful existence upon the fostering hand of monopoly or privilege. Far from holding out the delusive prospects of advantages not purchased by the toil and .industry of the people, we boldly tell our industrious country men that labour is the price at which every earthly boon must be purchased ; and all that we seek in their behalf is that freedom which shall secure to them a recompense, great or small, in proportion to the extent of their exertions. If such a spirit pervade their whole conduct, they will certainly be successful, because that is the spirit of right and justice, is agreeable to nature, and con formable to the will of GOD. In continuation of their good exertions the Man chester men propose to have a great meeting imme diately after Christmas, and to invite to it the most distinguished opponents of the Corn-laws. The great interest now taken on the subject of opening the Post-office on Sunday, the numerous meetings which have taken place to oppose it, the leading articles of the Journals written about it, and the activity of the great body of the Saints to promote a still more lugubrious and rigid observance of the Sabbath than at present, compels us to return to this subject. Amongst our extracts from the Journals is one from the Morning Chronicle, which rather sur prises us, because we have been wont to consider that Journal as the main opponent in the Daily Press of every species of hypocrisy and cant. Now, like the Herald, it opposes receiving and delivering letters on Sunday in London, which is done throughout religious Scotland, because that would be " an unne xessary desecration of the Sabbath." Since such a fit ha s come over our Contemporary, we hope that he and a ll tti.,e rest of the Morning Journals will in future keep holy tli Sabbath, by not beginning to look at a letter or a printer to work before twelve o'clock setting at night. The desec. -ation of the Sabbath, by b eg i nn i ng to cla bour at four 'clock on the Sunday afterno on , i s w h olly unnecessary, e--cePt as it saves the p oc k ets of the proprietors, and c‘.' ntributes to their emolum ents . W e shall have some faitt; in the sincerity of our Mo rn i ng Contemporaries, who feprobate delivering letters on Sunday when they cease to receive .nto a valley them, of and t o con vert, as far as they can, " I earth tears, by yielding to the den?ands of short-sighted avarice." We shall also have an equal faith in the since rity of those who now demand the rigid observance of the Sabbath, when they refuse to participate in any enjoy ment, such as reading a Monday morning' s newspstp opening a letter which has been carried by a Sunda y 's mail, or eating a well-cooked dinner, which is provided for them by desecrating the Sabbath—till all per sons who object to opening the Post-office on Sunday shall refrain from doing anything themselves on that day, or participating in any enjoyment, the result of de secrating that day, we shall stigmatize them as arrant hypocrites, and will not exclude from that class those of our Morning Contemporaries who cant on the sub ject while they are habitually Sabbath-breakers. We are well aware of the necessity of some persons labouring on a Sunday as well as on other days, and , we find no fault with our Morning Contemporaries for doing so ; we condemn only their miserable at tempt to prevent other persons from performing la bours at least as necessary as the production of a Morning Journal. It fact it is a physical impossi bility in this commercial and complicated society to observe one day hallowed from labour in the manner it was ordained, but probably never practised, amongst the anti-commercial and agricultural Jews. An im mense mass of confusion would ensue in this coun try were the Morning Papers not to be pre pared on Sunday, were no coaches to run, no ships to sail, no furnaces to blaze, and no work to be done on the Sabbath. We do not wish our Con temporaries to cease labouring on that day, but we wish them and the public to place the question on its true bases. According to the Chronicle, the avarice of the bankers and merchants, and others, would prompt them to desecrate the Sabbath; and that avarice continuing when it is for their interest or supposed interest, they will desecrate the Sabbath, whether it be done by the Post-office or not. In fact, they now do it to a con siderable extent, and as those occupations which must be practised on a Sunday increase, the temptation to bankers, merchants, and others •to labour on that day will be strengthened. Those who find it for their interest to write and send letters on Sundays will do so, and the Post-office will lose the advantage of car rying them. Some of the merchants and bankers doing this, would, on the Chronicle's showing, oblige others to do it, and it will be therefore most for the happiness and most for the interest of all parties—it will put an end to the hypocrisy and cant which now take place, and which, let us say, are crimes of no small magnitude—that it should be done openly, le gally, and as far as is necessary by the public autho rities ; if it be not, the Puritans, encouraged by the cant of the Press, will soon stop every mail coach at twelve o'clock at night, as they propose, and soon, by their dark superstition, which, with the love of mammon divides their hearts, make the land of England a " valley of tears." It is incumbent on those who write on this subject to discriminate between the demands of religion and the demands of utility. The Chronicle says, that it is of importance in a temporal point of view not to profane the Sabbath by unnecessary labour. With the Chronicle, we hold that a day of rest is essential to the physical comfort of man, and even to his health. In our society, too, in which the condition of the great mass of the labourers depends in a great measure on their competition with one another, for them to labour an additional day would be an aggra vation of their toils, without an increase of emolu ment. There are, therefore, very powerful reasons why a day of rest should be generally observed by the labouring classes ; but, as we have shown, that can no longer be in our society one day common to all. Domestic servants, printers, editors, and sometimes re porters of Morning Papers, sailors, mail coachmen, &c.— and why not letter-sorters and bankers' and merchants' clerks ?—must work on Sunday, and take some other day for rest, and repose, and recreation. In practice we are compelled to depart from the mode in which the ancient Jews observed the Sabbath, and why should we not in theory acknowledge the fact ? Far from such a rigid observance being ordered by religion, or in accordance with Christianity, CHRIST did many works on that day, and taught the propriety of doing them. The rigid observance of the Sabbath is a Mosaic but not a Christian ordinance. On that day the Jews were commanded to read their law in their temple, but CHRIST ordained that men might worship without a temple, he being in the midst of every two or three gathered together in his name ; and he prescribed no code of laws to be read and taught on the Sunday. It is little less, therefore, than absurd in the Chronicle, which knows better, to describe the observance of that day as the Puritans would have it observed, and as it is not observed in any other Christian country, as a Christian institution. We know how much the observance of such a day is cherished by those who have long enjoyed its repose ; we know how deeply its desecration would be resented by those who now have no other day of rest ; but their particular attachment to its observance should not make them confound that with religion, nor make them submit to the total want of a day of rest, because some of the persons employed in the Post-office are obliged, like mail coachmen, and the editors and printers of the Morning Journals, to labour on Sunday. We meant, in conclusion, to have noticed a most unwarrantable attack which was made yesterday, by the Morning Herald, on Sir E. LEES, an excellent public servant, for his evidence on the Post-office question ; but the length of our remarks compels us at present to stop. The letters we are daily receiving on the subject of insane institutions are a proof, among other things, that the public mind is beginning to be awakened to the neces sity of reform in the prevailing system of treating men tal disease. The apathy with which the fate of those who are deprived of reason has hitherto been regarded, must be great indeed, if it be measured by the provision which has been made either fur their restoration to sanity, or for such en joyments as may be suited to their unfortunate state. One would almost suppose, indeed, that in sanity was so rare an occurrence, that no person thinks it within the limits of calculation that he should be visited with that most dreadful of all human maladies, and yet where is the individual who can cast his eye even round the circle of his own acquaintance, without seeing instances in which in tellects apparently as strong as his, and as unlikely to be deranged, have been suddenly overclouded ? What subject ought, then, to come more home to the mind of every man than the treatment which awaits him should this be his own doom ? In the first place, the signature of any two men within the wide sphere of the medical profession is all that is required by law to deprive him of his liberty, and consign him to a madhouse, where his the interest of the party, to whose charge he is committed, to keep him. When there, he is not merely a prisoner, he is abso lutely at the mercy of his keeper—entirely cut off from all his civil and social privileges—dead, in short, in the eye of the law, and an outcast from his kind. Instead of being surrounded with persons of his own class, he is subjected to the society and controul o menials with whom he can have no sympathy, and whose conduct, regulated by one unvarying plan of coercion and vi o l ence , i s muc h more ca l cu l ate d to in crease his dis or d er , th an to promote hi s recovery. There may be, and doubtless there are, exceptions to this general rule—at least in some points—for a good man cannot help deviating into humanity, however he may be circumstanced ; but the result of the system as such, is, as Sir WILLIAM ELLis has expressed it, that it is not the interest of the proprietor of a mad house that his patients should recover. We trust, however, that another and a better system Will soon be adopted. The law must be altered, and made to thitsnodividuals i s m ec p o o n r d tan it t s end, while the contribute its part to thi s will, we are humane exertions confident, not be wanting efforts. The great point to be gained is to establish not mereiy medical, but a moralie b l tae4tmentelong o in retreat s for higherfor th c ei l n a s s a s n es e : should Th Society, cap a bl e of skilfully watching the progress of e invalid, he strro if unded with an educated couvaJ.etwence, and of ministering to the wants of the disordered mind, THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1838. something in the same way that the physician adapts his treatment to the ever-varying forms of bodily disease. This, all writers on insanity agree, is the great desideratum, and it gives us pleasure to think that an attempt has been made, in one instance at least, to supply it—we allude to the Institution at Denham Park. At the meeting of the Corporation Reform Society, held last night at the Guildhall Tavern, there was a very animated discussion on the subject of the coal trade, as regulated by the City authorities. Mr. HANNkN, and other leading Members, animadverted with deserved severity on the course which has been pursued by the Corporation from the year 1768, when the tax of Bd. per ton was first imposed, to the present time, with regard to the coal-trade, the result of 'which has been to put millions into the coffers of the City and into the pockets of the coal-monopolists, at the expense of the citizens at large. There is, we fear, too much truth in this statement, for after all that can be said against the monopolists—who, of course, follow the instincts of their nature in this as in other cases— the blame must ultimately rest with those whose duty it is to watch over and protect the interests of the citizens, who are armed with ample power for that purpose, but who, instead of using their power for the general benefit, have virtually leagued with the monopolists in a conspiracy to keep up the price of one of the most urgent necessaries of life. What must any person, who is capable of reflection, think of a system of management by which Newcastle coals are actually sold cheaper at Cadiz, and even at Athens and Alexandria, than they are in London ? We tell the citizens of London that they deserve this treatment if they submit to it. Until they heartily join in the demand for Corporation Reform, they will never see an end either to the abuses in the coal trade, or to any of the other numerous grievances of which they have so much reason to complain. LLOYD'S SHIPPING.-(THIS DAY.) DEAL, DEC. 13.—Wind N.W.—Arrived the Ariadne, M'Leod, from Calcutta. Arrived from the River and remain, the Triumph, Green, for Bombay ; London, Gibson, Hobart Town; Miranda, Quelch, St. Kitts. PORTSMOUTH, DEC. 13.1—Wind variable.—Arrived the Lord Vernon, Lachlan, from Cork ; H. M. Brig, Grecian, Plymouth; Chili. Smirk, Limerick; Flora, Newton, Stock ton ; Susan, Bevis, Seaham ; Lord Vernon, Lachlan, Cork ; Eclipse (steamer), Russell, Dalhousie. Sailed the Perseve rance, Saunders, for Poole ; Adder, Wells, St. Michael's ; Eclipse (steamer), Russell, London. PLYMOUTH, DEC. 12.—Wind variable.— Arrived the Beau Ideal, Forbes, Scilly; Leeds (steamer), Dublin ; Merriced, St. Moloes. Sailed the Argyle, Gattenby, for Sydney. LIVERPOOL, DEC. 13.—Wind variable and light.—Arrived the Elizabeth, from Miramichi. Off port the Murray, from St. Andrew's, New Brunswick. Sailed the Syrian, Cun ningham. for Rio Janeiro ; Agenore, Pernambuco ; Ger trude, White, Lisbon; Argentina, Kelso, Monte Video; Merry, Clark, Jamaica ; Ann Baldwin, Lima ; Japan, Stock holm ; Marquis, White, St. Vincent's ; Isabella, Barcelona ; Wilson, Calcutta ; Phoenix, Port Messina ; Venus, Gotten burg : William Frederick, Constantinople; Cicely, Norman, Newfoundland. The Catherine, from Monte Video, arrived at Pernambuco, on the 3d ult., in twenty days, and reported that the blockade of Buenos Ayres still continued. FALMOUTH, DEC. 12.—Wind variable, light airs and cloudy. —Arrived the Duke of Cambridge, Batty, and Sirius steamer, from London. Sailed the Harriet, Hooper, for Boston ; Eight, Stockholm. MARGATE, DEC. 13.—Arrived off, the President, Chadwick, from New York; Eleanor, Limerick. POOLE, DEC. 13.—Arrived the Wilhelmina, Neustadt. Dem.'s, DEC. 12. —Arrived the Two Sisters, Thomas, from Ostend ; Elizabeth, Winter, London. CORK, DEC. 11.— Arrived the Dart, Vitrey, and T. S. Reeves, Bailey, from London. Sailed Bahiana steamer, Bahia. CARNARVON, DEC. 12.—A pine balk has been washed on shore near Dinas Dinlli, 41 feet long and about 20 inches square, marked on each side "22 D E 11 S-17 ;" also a bale of cotton in a coarse wrapper, torn very much, and mark almost obliterated ; nothing but I 60 is to be distinguished. HULL, DEC. 12.—Arrived the Judith, Keiser, from Riga; Bee, Morrison, Quebec ; Bruce, Stevenson, do. ; Johanna, Robinson, do; Frederick Wilhclms, Burnett, Neustadt; Prin cess Victoria (steamer), Antwerp ; George Marsden, Riga. Sailed—Andromache, for Charleston. YARMOUTH, DEC. 12.—Arrived the Jeune Gabriel, from Dunkirk. 136.—Commercy, Rigdon, which was on shore on Crosser beach, has been got off and brought in here. ROADS, Dec. 12.—Ann Guthrie, Atkinson, Rotterdam. . BRISTOL. DEC. 13. Arrived the Euphrosyne, from Miramichi. DOVER, DEC. 13.—Sailed the Van Spyck, for Amsterdam ; Guther, Hamburgh. NEWPORT, DEC. 12.—Arrived the Edinard, from Rouen. LIMERICK, DEC. 10.— A vessel, timber laden, was wrecked on the 2d inst. near Sand Sting, and all on board drowned. A piece of stern, with " Migara of Newcastle" on it has been washed on shore. Certain Journals, both in this country and in the United States, infer from the conduct of the Presi dent of that Republic that he secretly abetted the lawless invaders who have recently met a signal dis comfiture on the Canadian frontier, and urge as proofs his tardiness in issuing the late proclamation, and the open and unpunished proceedings of some revenue officers in favour of the invasion. Though these cir cumstances furnish some grounds for the accusation, no person who looks dispassionately at the situation of the two countries can believe for a moment that VAN BUREN is such a madman as to stir up a war for the unjustifiable purpose of adding the Canadas to the United States. A war with Great Britain for such an object would inevitably lead to a separation between the Northern and Southern States. Even during the last American war the interests of the two divisions of the country were found so incompatible, that the con clusion of peace alone saved them from separation. And what change has taken place since ? In 1891, six years after the peace, the importation of cotton from the Southern States into the British dominions was less than the half of the amount imported in 1830. In 1836, only six years more, it had nearly trebled—that is, it had increased six fold in fifteen years, and at present the value of cotton imported from nine of the Southern States alone cannot fall short of sixteen millions sterling a-year. This is a peace-bond too strong to be rent asunder by Mr. VAN BUREN and all the Northern States toge ther, supposing them blinded, as these Journals assert, by sympathy for the Canadians, or lust for Canadian conquest. Perhaps in the whole range of history there is no instance of two independent portions of the globe so interested in preserving mutual peace as Great Bri tain and the ten cotton growing States of North America are at the present moment. Even without war the slave question is producing alienation between the South and the North, which prudence and mutual forbearance might in time remove, but which would be rendered utterly incurable by any scheme to strengthen the States opposed to slavery by the acquisition of the Canadas, and is it likely that CLAY and WEBSTER, and other leaders of great ability and good sense in Congress, independent of the vast body of merchants to whom war would be ruin, will join with the Sympa thizers in a wanton, unjustifiable, and underhand act, which would present on the one hand a distant pros pect of a doubtful, and at best, a bloody possession of a new territory, and on the other the certain loss of the most valuable provinces of this great and united Republic. It is true, however, that rulers have occa sionally committed suicidal acts. One of our sovereigns exchanged three kingdoms for a mass, and the obsti nacy of another severed the American Colonies from the mother country. VAN BUREN, too, has his ob stinate fits, as the sub-treasury scheme proves ; but if he is half so foolish as some of the American Papers represent, and encourage a scheme so dishonourable and so opp ose d t o th e interests and wishes of the great body of the nation, these republicans have a remedy, and we advise them to treat their President as England has treated some of her Kings, not by cutting off his head, but by depriving him of power, and sending him to this country to learn controul, and acquire salutary discipline under a limited monarchy. CONQUET, DEC. 7.—The Norwegian brig Joseph, timber laden and abandoned, has been on shore on the coast of Onessant—cargo saved. The Annandale, Craig, arrived at Aberdeen the 10th inst., was on the 30th ult., while lying-to in a heavy gale from W. to N. N. W., in lat. 53., long. 31., struck by a sea, which broke the rudder, carried away the main topmast, all the boats, some stanchions, and two of the deck beams. The Cecilia, Henderson, from Greenock to Demerara, was spoken with 11th December, off Rothsay, going in leaky, by the Rawley, Alexander, arrived at Greenock from Quebec. The Siluria, Watts, bound to St. Michael's, after being a considerable way to the Westward, arrived at Scilly. The Judith, bound to Valparaiso, put into Rio Janeiro in distress, bound to Liverpool. The French Papers of Wednesday have been duly received. Of political news of interest they contain nothing, with the exception of a letter from Galicia, relative to warlike preparations making by Russia, published by th e C ommerce , w hi c h w ill b e found in another part of The Sun. The writer infers from the unusual magnitude of the movements which he describes, that Russia is either preparing to defend herself a ga i ns t an attac k w hi c h s h e j u d ges i ne vitable, or she is on the eve of making one which shall asto nish Europe. The KING, by a Royal ordinance, has appointed Marshal GERARD Commandant of the National Guards of Paris, in the room of Marshal Count Lon MU, deceased. o The l the p a r t e e s v t adc i ousv dayes from the Madrid are Deputies( closed he t inst. e on the Address by the adoption of General SEOANE'S amendment, in which her Majesty is implored to adopt more energetic measures to put an end to the civil war. When this amendment was finally put to the vott, only 12 votes out of 139 were given against it. This is one st e p t owards clearing the ground for the appointment o f a strong, popular administration. An amendment similar to General SEOANE'S was moved in the Senate by Senor CALA TRAVA, and ordered to be taken into consideration. From the aristocratical constitu ti on of that assembly yt, notwithstand ingsurround the o it is not likely that it will mee t w ith much favour. Spain earnest continues esi rwithouto f t h e a QUEEN Mini Ministry, r throne with responsible advisers. It Was generally rumoured that the Marquis PE MITI4FLORE.S had been prevailed upon to accept the Presidency of the Council, with Generals ALAIX and VIGADET, and Senors PITA PIZARRO and OLOZA GA. for his col leagues in office. Advices from Saragossa of . the 6th inst., announce that on the previous day an engagement took place be tween four divisions of the QUEEN'S troops under the coinimoti of the Viceroy Don DIEGO DE LEON, and eight divisions of C47lists. According to the Chris tino account, the enemy was route 4 01 points with great slaughter ; whereas, a Carlist bulletin sets forth tbg the Christinos fled before the standard of DON CARLOS Fb !!!! before the wind. Whether one or other, or both, or PDXlker of true accounts be true or false, is of very little moment. p,s,t skirmishes that the civil war will ever be brought tq .3 910,K, MONEY AND COMMERCIAL NEWS CITY (THIS DAY), TWELVE O'CLOCK. - , - LIVERPOOL, COTTON MARKET, THURSDAY.—We have had no new feature in the cotton market to-day ; the sales are 2,500 a 3,000 bags at yesterday's quotations. Arrivals this morning —French, Ostend, and Dutch mails, ship-letters from Calcutta of the sth August, Bahia, and Pernambuco. Accounts have been received at Liverpool from Bahia by the Broad Oak, stating that the French Admiral in the river Plata had declared war against Buenos Ayres, and that he had taken possession of an island in the vicinity of the harbour. This news is said to have been brought to Rio Janeiro by a British frigate, whence it was conveyed to Bahia. The Brazilian Government had raised the duties on imports. The reported information received some days since of a revolution having broken out at Bahia is partly confirmed, but it appears that the revolutionists failed in their attempt, and the ringleaders were apprehended and imprisoned on board a guardship in the harbour. Th., vessel which brought the above report must have sailed at the commence ment of the attempt, and did not wait to hear the result. The Funds continue to recede. A merchant of Brus sels has contracted with the Government to transport forty thousand bombs and howitzers, from Liege to the Citadel of Antwerp. A great quantity of rice has been purchased for the account of Government. The Lisbon mail, which is now overdue five days, has not as yet arrived ; in all probability she may be waiting to bring over the Queen's speech, which takes place on the 9th, .on opening the Chambers. The Dutch and Belgian question is the general topic of conversation in the city. The speculators are now anxiously waiting for the King of the French's Speech, to ascertain the part he will adopt, as he refuses to sign the decision of the four Powers. THE FUNDS. Consols, which closed yesterday at 938 i for the Ac count, may be quoted at present at the same price, with little business doing as yet ; Reduced 928 i ; Exchequer Bills, 64 66 ; India Bonds, 62 64 ; Bank Stock, 2021 203 ; India Stock for the opening 2621. In the Foreign Market, the information from the Brazils and Bahia, has rather improved the market. Brazil which left off at 76i 77, is at present 771 owing to the revolution at Bahia, having been crushed. Spanish Active as it left off 164 ; Portuguese at the closing price, 294- ; Three per Cents. 191 ; Coldmbian, 231 26 ; Mexican, 221 23 ; Dutch Two-and-a-Half, 548 -a, no alteration ; Five per Cents. 1001 i. No arrivals from New York. PRICES OF STOCKS THIS DAY AT ONE O'CLOCK. Bank Stork 203 24i India Stock 3 per Cent. Red. 92%%% Ditto Bonds 62 64 pm. 3 per Cent. Cons. 3% per Cent — Old Annuities Ditto Red. lOO% 100 New Ditto New 3% per Cent 3 per Cent. Annuities, 1751... New 5 per Cent. Bank Long A nnuities to expire Ditto 500 Jan. 5, 1860 I 4 13-16 Ditto Small 66 64 pm Oct. 111, 1839 14 11-16 Ditto Commercial — pm. Jan. 5, 1860 — Ditto Advertised ......... pm. Jan. 5, 1880 — Bank Stock for Account ..—. April 5, 1880 —l I n di a St oc k f or A ccoun t — Jan. 5, 1870 —' Consols for Account 93% ii % PRICES OF FOREIGN FUNDS THIS DAY AT ONE O'CLOCK Austrian Bonds ; Peruvian Bonds — Belgian Bonds Ditto Account Brazilian Bonds Ditto Account Buenos Ayres Bonds Ditto Account Chilian Bonds I ).tto Account Columbian Bonds 24 Ditto Account — Ditto Account —; Ditto Metallic Columbian Bonds, 1824 25%' Spanish Bonds. _ _ Ditto Account Danish Bonds --,I Ditto Account Ditto Account. Greek Bonds French, 5 per cent. Ditto Bonds, 1525 - 4 per cent. Ditto Account — 3 per cent. — C —c. Mexican Bonds, 5 per Cent — Exchange. Ditto Account Dutch, 2,', per cent. Ditto, 6 per Cent Ditto Account 54% Ditto Account Neapolitan I Ditto Acc0unt........ ......... PRICES OF SHARES THIS DAY AT ONE O'CLOCK. Paid. Per Share. Eastern Counties Railway lO 8% Great Western Railway Company 65 76 4% 5 Brighton Railway London and Blackwall Railway 9 11 % Manchester and Birmingham Railway lO 10% N An Midland Railway Company 55 55 South Eastern and I)over Railway Company 9 3 HALF-PAST ONE. It is stated that large shipments of bullion continue to be made for the Continent, and that yesterday a consider able amount was forwarded by the Dover coaches from the Bank of England. The low rate of the import duty on foreign corn will have the effect of throwing a large amount of corn into the market. Consols are not quite so gond as in the early part of the morning, and receded from 93i 4 to 93i ; Reduced, 92k; Exchequer Bills, 66 64 ; India Bonds, 62 ; Bank Stock rather lower, 202/-. In the Foreign Market, Spanish heavy at 164; Portu guese, 291 ; Three per Cents., 191 ; Belgian receded to 991 100 ; Brazilian, 764 771 ; Colombian, 251 26 ; Mexi can 2 9 1 23 ; Dutch Two-and-a-Half, 548 The G o vernment Broker purchased, this morning, 5,000/. Three-and-a-Half Reduced, at par. Little doing in the Share Market. Great Western 10 prem. ; Brighton, 3 1 dis. , _ TIMER O'CLOCX Consols for slue Account ! '3l. A man is going about the western suburbs profess ing to receive subscriptions for a piece of plate to be pre sented to Miss Grace Darling, lie professes to be de puted for that purpose by an association in the North ; but yesterday, on being closely questioned on the subject by a gentleman in Alpha-road, Regent's Park, who knows the locality where the pretended association is sitting, h e evi dently knew nothing of it, and at the first opportunity pre cipitately made his escape. The ice can the Neva, at St. retersbuzil l Ny43, will cietitly strong, .24c1 tilt., to allow a passengers crossing over on foot. During the ensuing night the river was completely frozen over, and the workmen began on me following following morning the customary labnurg of eenstructing the Isaac -bridge. 21..cco,unts fr om ot hei ports agree in're'pre'septiot tbat•tbe bad s 'set in with onsi cterable severity ROLLS' COURT.-(THIS DAY.) WILLIS V. cunTon. The question in this case arose under the will of Dr. John Willis, dated 6th February, 1835, who for a consi derable number of years attended on his late Majesty George 111. The plaintiff was the nephew of the testator, and the defendant his executor. Mr. Pemberton and Mr. Lowndes were for the plaintiff ; Mr. Kindersley and M. Russell for the defendant. The nature of the case will be collected from the judg ment of the Master of the Rolls. His LORDSHIP said the testator had three places of residence. His town residence was in Tenterden-street, and lie had a residence at a place called Chillingthorpe, where there was an establishment for the cure of insane persons, and he had another establishment at a place called Drakeford in Leicestershii e. Those two establish ments were conducted by him in partnership, or with the assistance of the present plaintiff, who was in the same profession. The first question that arose was upon the household goods, furniture, and other things, it being con tended, on behalf of the defendant, that it must be restricted to such things as were at Drakeford, and no where else, the words being, " I give my said nephew all my carriages, &c., at Drakeford, and also my household goods, furniture, aad personal ornaments," and so on. His Lordship thought the words must be construed in the general method ex pressed, and that the gift was of all his household goods, &c. The next question that arose was upon what passed under the word " books." The testator, in his house in Tenterden-street, had a library of printed books, and also a selection of books, bound into volumes, containing manuscript notes of his attendance upon the late King George 111. Those volumes were no doubt of very considerable value, and must b-a considered to have been made by the testator himself for important purposes. It was important to himself that he should have made them, and it was important to the public, because he might, from time to time, be called upon to give information, with all the particulars connected with the illness of his late Ma jesty ; and it was known from history that he was seve ral times compelled to do so. It was, therefore, his duty to preserve them, and with the greatest care which appeared to have been done, for they were found in a chest, sealed. Those manuscripts were very valuable, not only as furnishing him with the results of medical experience but as showing what was the sort of even moral conduct which a physician under such delicate circumstances was bound to pursue. The question was, whether these volumes came under the desciption of " all and every these books, in and about my house in Tenterden-street." It was alleged they ought to be considered as mere loose memoranda, pot up for the convenience of the testator, in a form in which they could be more easily consulted ; and it was contended that, under these words, nothing could pass but such printed books as booksellers were in the habit of keeping in their shops. Recollecting that in this case the legatee to whom these books were given was a medical gentleman en gaged in the like branch of the profession as the testator, and to whom books of this sort would be most peculiarly valuable ; and taking into consideration that the probability was, if the testator had had his attention drawn to them, he would have specifically mentioned them in the gift to his nephew, and the words being sufficient in the construction of the will to comprise these books, his Lordship thought he must consider these books passed under that clause in the will. The next question, which related to a bust of the testator found in Tenterden street, was, whether it passed under the words, " all my household goods and furniture," &c. ? Upon this his Lord ship said he would look into the authorities. The inclination of his opinion was, that, looking at the particular words of the will, the words "and effects" not being used, the bust did not pass. The remaining question was, whether an ivory tooth-pick case, a pencil case, a pocket case of surgeon's instruments, and an eye glass, came under the words "watches and personal ornaments." His Lordship expressed a wish that things of that sort had not been submitted to the formal decision of the Court, but that the parties had come to a settlement out of doors. The case of in struments his Lordship did not consider to come under those words. With respect to the other things they were certainly articles of utility, and the question seemed to be whether those things that were ornamental and capable of being applied to useful purposes were to be considered as mere ornaments. A common ring, which might be set round with diamonds, and of extreme value, was of no use except for ornament ; but it might be converted into a signet-ring, and then, although ornamental, it would be useful to seal letters. His Lordship thought there was a case in which that had been considered, and would look into it before disposing of that point, although he was sorry that he should be called on to decide upon such a trifling matter. It was afterwards mentioned, that a compass presented by George the Third to the testator had been found by the executor, of which no mention was specifically made in th.o.. will ; but the parties thought they would he able to agree upon that out of Court, and also would endeavour to settle those minor points of difference, last ,mentioned by his Lordship. COMMON PLEAS.-(THIS DAY.) GREEN V. CURWEN. This was an action brought by the assignee of a builder to recover part of the amount of a contract for work and labour, &c. The defence set up was, that the contract had not been completed within the required time, eight weeks ; and that the builder had incurred the forfeiture agreed to in the contract, of 2/. per day for the term over that period of eight weeks, and which forfeiture ought to be deducted from the amount contracted for. To this the plaintiff answered, that the delay arose from the defendant interfer ing with the progress of the work. Mr. Sergeant - WILDE W 3.3 for the plaintiff ; Mr. PLATT for the defendant. FROM A CORRESPONDENT.—The rapid march of splendour and magnificence, as displayed by the Licensed Victuallers in the palaces of late years, has more than once engaged the attention of the Press ; but such, however great, has been tar exceeded by Mr. Gibson, the Architect, in the American Wine and Spirit Stores, 56, Oxford -street, which establishment is indeed entitled to a visit from all who would behold correct taste allied to elegant. arrange ment and decorative display.—Morning, Paper. Mount Vesuvius, as we find by a recent letter from Naples, is again in a state of e rupti on . Th e weat h er has been so mild in the south of Italy and at Naples, that many people have not yet put on their winter clothing. In November last a tragedy, a parody, four dramas, two operas, and seventeen vaudevilles, altogether twenty five new pieces, were brought out in the theatres of Paris. On Tuesday a meeting of the members of the Market Gardeners' Association, and of horticulturalists residing in the four counties adjacent to London, was held at the King's Arms, Palace-yard, Henry Pownall, Esq., in the Chair, for the purpose of petitioning the Legislature to impose a protecting duty on the importation of foreign fruits and vegetables, in place of the present ad valorem duty. An inquest was held on Tuesday in the New-road on the body of Ann Butler, aged about fifty, who was found drowned. It appeared from the evidence that deceased, who had no settled place of abode, went about under pre tence of telling fortunes, which, however, was to her a very unprofitable trade. She had not been seen in her usual haunts lately, and on Sunday morning her body was discovered floating on the Regent's Canal, near St. .Tohn's wood Bridge. She was quite dead, and the body appeared to have been in the water some days. No person came forward to own the body ; and the depositions having been read over, the Jury returned a verdict of Found drowned." On Monday morning Blissey White, a young woman in the service of Mr. Smith, an independent gentleman. re siding in Glebe-place, Stoke Newington, after having pre pared breakfast for the family, suddenly absented herself, and on being missed, an immediate search was made, but without success, until a considerable time afterwards, when the footmen discovered her lifeless body in a water-tank behind the house. From the position of the tank it is scarcely possible that she could have fallen into it by acci dent, and it is believed in the neighbourhood that she com mitted self-destruction. The John and Mary brig, from Sunderland, left Miramichi, on the coast of North America, the Ist of November, being laden with timber. Almost from the first hour of her sailing she had to contend with very severe gales, so that she had speedily four feet water in the hold. Off the banks of Newfoundland she became completely waterlogged, and capsized. By the very great exertions of' her crew, however, she was at laat righted, but not without sacrificing her foremast, and the loss of life in a boy, who was washed overboard. The rest. of the crew were obliged to lash themselves to the round tops of the vessel, in order to prevent the same fate. The mainmast now fell with a dreadful smash upon the deck, killing one sailor and maiming several others. The crew now lashed themselves afresh to the stumps of the masts, mid in this horrible condition the poor wretches remained during five days, when they were picked up by Captain Keys, in the ship Kingston, for Newport, and landed upon our quays. Some perished, but the six remaining persons were on Wed i nesday last brought to our inArnaary, where th e y :a tta i n. The mate has a very seee.re fracture of , near; all th e r ib s on one siilo tlioy ape all more or less oyeadfu ty contused, and a lad has his legs frost-bit,teu indeed, we learn that every one suffered 11 104 4eadfully from cold and hunger, and conse:':aont eyihoustion.—Bristol Mirror, of 7A44ioe, was ott Wed 4ow-street on A clarge I ly m c i o th ni , ,m o i f tt t e h , e ifo E r nes \ d V a ‘ ; l f . o of having robbed a ke1:.809, calmed Griffith % Valk on hi s way with Lidty, the stattep-house, 9 intoxicated t the time, POST-OFFICE. TO THE EDITOR OF 711 E SUN. SlR,—There was an ancient god called Proteus, who, as suited his purpose, assumed the form of a tiger, or a lion, or disappeared in a flame of fire, or a w hirlwind, or a rushing stream. Your Contemporary the Chro nicle is the living image of this consistent sea deity, in all except his knowledge of the present and the future. When Sir Andrew Agnew proposed to put down Sunday trading, and cricket, and single stick, and billiards, and card playing at Clubs on the Sabbath, your Contemporary played the whirlwind. This morning be i 5 the rushing stream, weeping floods at the wickedness of the age in " desecrating the Sabbath," and " converting this earth into a valley of tears" by the delivery of post . letters on Sunday. This " Niobe, all tears," for no men deserving the name, or who had the slighest practical knowledge, would give way to such cant, can see nothing but destruction to this Christian country, by adopting the convenient, humane, and Christian practice so long in use among the most religious people in the world—the inhabitants of the great commercial towns of Liverpool and Glasgow, and the Sabbath-observing people of Aberdeen and Edinburgh. Bu s i ness , as compare d with the population, is carried on to a greater extent in some of these places than in London ; but does the delivery of letters for an hour at the Post-office on Sunday desecrate that holy day—is Scotland converted into a valley of tears—is the Sabbath so well observed in any country, and did the most sincere Agnewite ever advance the doctrine that this was not a work of necessity and mercy ? It is disgraceful to find men that ought to be leaders in rationa l improvement, pandering to ignorance and bigotry, and throw' ing obstacles in the way of the Government when it suits their purpose to put on the mask of hypocrisy. You hall stood forward manfully in support of the change ; you have not hung back like the Chronicle till a demonstration was made in the City, and then in crocodile tears wept over the wickedness of Lord Lichfield and Colonel MaberlY , and the Whig Government; and I trust that your honestl and perseverance in this and other reforms, not at first popular, will meet with their best reward —success. Dec. 14. ANTI-PROTEUS. THE MARKETS.-(THIS AY. CORN E2iCHANGF,. The arrivals this es eek are small of. 'Wheat and Oats, B u t / good of Barley and a coastw rise, 'with h toler a bl e quant i ty of °I frreland, fapply of Flour. In consequence the reported interdict of the exportation of Wheat from thl kingdom of Naples, this trade has been firm here to-day, b tl a not much business has been transacted. Barley, Beans, O Pease remain as last s t ate d . Oats are firm in value, with s ~ fair demand. Fl our i s unaltered from the report of Monday ARRIVALS. Wheat. I Barley. I ,8:)0 Ira. 8,850 qrs English Irish . Oat.. Flour. ~ 1,1.30 qrs. 6, ll';) 0 01 " 15;330 „--- --. --- brig. Foreign 160 SMITHFIELD. Beasts were in large supply to-day, and trade being brig there was an ad vance o f 2 d . to 4d. per stone. Christmas Be ,l is. per stone. M u tt on i n good supply atid demand at f0w1.,, rates. No alteration in Pork or Veal. Beef 3 s . 4d. 4s. sd. and ss. ; Mutton 35. 10d. to 4s. 10d. and ss. ; 4s. 4d. to ss. 4d. ; Pork 4s, Bd. to ss. 4d. Beasts I,a" Sheep 3,900 ; Pigs 376 ; Calves 145. BILLINGSGATE MARKET. The supplies to-day were not so good, and prices of O. kinds were higher. Turbot ss. and 7s. to 21s. 255. and3O 9 ' each. Soles 9d. and 3s. per pair. Lobsters ls. to 4s. qicf; Cod 2s. 6d. and 3 s . to 10s. and 12s. each. Whiting auv 6d. each. Haddock sd, and 10d. each. HOP MARKET. The supply at this Market is rather increased. Tradiceir tinues to b e con fi ne d to the f i ne descriptions. Prices unalife SPIRIT MARKET. There is not much doing in any department, and pries re; main without any alteration. Proof Leewards, 3s. 3d. :Toe" Jamaica, 41. Bd. ; common Brandy, 4s. ; Geneva, 2s. i 25. 2d. ; British Corn Spirits continue at 10s. 2d. per gallg. PUBLIC SALE OF COTTON—THIS DAY At the London Commercial Sale-rooms, Mincing.so there was a public sale of 2,000 bales of Surat Cotton todsi' A small portion sold steadily, at about previous rates. COLONIAL MARKET. To-day we h a d public sales of 4,000 bags of Mauititle' nearly the whole of which sold mostly at about former Pict and wher e a l tere d, t h ey are lower. B, P. Sugar sellswit: less spirit, at about previous prices. Coffee, 47 casks Jaiaie: and 272 bags St. Domingo, sold steadily at about prviod: rates. In fact, there was nothing to-day to alter the make r ' t The imports are light. During the week there has bee, to a moderate business done, still prices are firm. - - - NATIONAL RENT--A numerous meeting 01 th e , working c l asses , res id ent i n the districts of Kennington, in Brixton, was held at the Crown and Anchor Tavern, BO' ton-road, for the purpose of taking into consideration ;b e resolutions agreed to at the Birmingham meeting, TO.Priing the" - .co - Ilex-ov.. Item, placed t the disposal o f the Gener a l Convention, appointed to mat London, t o watc h t h e progress of the " National Peitil aid the People's Charter," in the House of Conrsnons ;Oa' &so to appoint a Committee to carry the resolutions ilt e effect in th e a b ove di str i cts. At seven o'clock the clot was taken, and resolutions for carrying into effect the d r :i jects of the mee ti ng , were proposed and adopted. Seve r`, persons havin g a dd resse d t h e meeting, a Committee 1,, appointed to manage the collection of the rent ; and thae having been vo t e d to t h e Chairman, the meeting separa te GEESE V. GRAIN.--Since the opening ° f t en t Newcastle an d C ar li s l e Railway, we have had freq u ar complaints of the excessive dearness it has caused in ° i f poultry market, consequent on the demand for the r P , P e ly of the N ewcast l e market, where poultry is comp'ara ti. e r scarce. Many a thrifty housewife has had Titer tetePen ruffled by th e d earness of geese ; and had our old wellioa known as littl e o f po li t i cal economy as the "moral: ibispeace a bl e " i n h a bi tants of Whitehaven, we should ere of have witness e d an mettle in ou r goose mar k et ; and lees a goodly load of these feathered bipeds would hall' to arrested in lransilu. To those who have felt ine li rb e iog grumble on th e su bj ect, and who have complained ei thiS stinted of their usual Sunday dinner of giblet pie a k t e och season of the y ear , i t may b e some consolation t° they that though they have been deprived of their goose , s „ e ct have had i n return an extra supply of grain. We suorto, it will astonish most of our readers, as it certaiell t h a t nished ourselves when we first ascertained the fset'eoe' since th e commencement of last month--that is i° set to thing le ss th an s i x wee k s—there have been broug"eivo Carlisle from Newcastle, by the railway, nearly t r y : c is° thousand b us h e l s o f gra i n. We cannot give the Poor proportions, but we shall not be found far from th e 7,0 0 in m a ki ng th e f o ll ow i ng statement :—Wheat, about fug' bushels ; Barley, between 3,000 and 4,000 bushel! jaels' about 500, Flour about 200, and Malt about 500 e"" n osfr Looking to the advantages which this large inW ert to tb e have conferred upon Carlisle, we may well a fford sk ew ,; people of Newcastle a few scores of geese and e hie rt ie:te g and be content to pay a little advance up o n these ape so for our own use. And thus it is that railways r o n , as,," many benefits upon the public, by equalizing P r ' e t 'o n ' t lisP placing all parts of the country upon a Journal. „ An inque s t was h e ld on Tuesday in Bermonds7o's4 the body of a man of colour named Holmes, cook °,l3iag is of the Maria Louisa, a Plymouth schooner, now l o t tki e Fountain Dock. It appeared from the evidence use' I vessel being much infested by rats, the mate had vesse charcoal fires to be lighted in various parts of 0 36 io tche ° for the purpose of destroying these vermin, Tpe eying were closed, and every crevice stopped out, and 'r e d te n the vessel for the night, the mate strictigy eninl a nt to go Holmes, aad an apprentice who was with hie' , lerwa r below on any account. The apprentice soon 5., foun d left the vessel, and in the mornia'g Holmes, 7, 1 a It - lying undressed on the forecastle deck quite a e- ma te, ",.; supposed that, neglecting the Precaution of thered by had gone below to sleep, and in a ttry 'had been overpev ie. fumes of the charcoal. Tie witnesses concurred, nru denc e " buting the occurrence Solely to the man's own linr and a verdict was mturned accordingly. r zri STATISTICS OF D UKERY .—Th e ti wine' _F Goo accurate list o f th e ages of the present Du kes °L Britain, Ireland, and Scotian,' MontrAc, born 1775, age, FROM SEVENI GrP.l4Oll, born in 1760 Norfolk Marlborough Cleveland Ledford FROM SIXTI Gordon Cumberland ........ 1770 Manchester.. .. 1771 Sussex .................. 1773 Cambridge ............. 1774 Somerset ................. . 1775 Leeds ..................... 1755 Devonshire....,,,,. FROM FIFT` Richmond and Lenox.. 1791 UNDER St. Albans lBOl „..on e Buccicugh these th irtj er g ' On computing the averages of the ages of .. ve gentlemen, we find it to be snore than sixty-the ' the . Either the Dukes are remarkably long-lived, or a do surers calculate their averages on terms remarkably tageous to themselves.—Lancashire Herald. , _ re byr Espartero issued on tl , .e 27th ult. a b 4 Qtl Lando, Wilc ear' on pretence that Boinas are worn by the enemies of frob; Isalaa, all persons, e,'svil or military, are prohibit ed t visited with a fine of 80 rials ; if the offender I montb a ; ni g .t wearing them, A first disobedience to his de ,r ) e c e i n s a j etu te o pay, he is to suffer a,n imprisonment of two to O n " penalty is to be doubted for a second offence, and to two 'eta of the presidios for a third. I 8 4 ........................... 'Y TO SIXTY. Dorset ................... _177,0,71 Hamilton and Brandon ?1,16s Argyle ...............••• 1768 Portland ............... .•• 176 ? Wellington ............ .• 6 TO FIFTY. Bu c kingham .......... 1.7:7766 Athol .... . ................ 1 - 1 / 6 Rutland ............. • ••• ,7 83, Newcastle .............. Northumberland........ 1,616. Sutherland ............ TO FORTY. Leinster ....... .......... 10,791 Beaufort ..... ............. FORTY. 1 0° Roxburriti .............•'